Devoured: Brides of the Kindred 11 Read Online Free Page A

kind
of kitchen area. At least, there were countertops and counters and a sink and a
big silver machine mounted on the wall that looked kind of like a microwave.
There was also a large wooden table with chairs that looked like they had been
built for people slightly larger than human. It made Tess think of the story of
Goldilocks and the Three Bears. “ Who’s
been sitting in my chair?” growled Papa bear…
    “This is the perfect place.” Di pressed her arm. “Look, just think about it.
There’s a well stocked kitchen here—see?” She opened one of the cabinets
revealing rows and rows of tiny white cubes.
    “Uh…they eat sugar cubes?” Tess looked at
them doubtfully.
    “No, silly—these are Kindred meal ration
cubes.” Di frowned. “I think that’s
what they’re called. Anyway, you just take one and put it into this thingy
here…” She opened the silver microwave looking thing and placed a random cube
inside. “Press the button and in a minute or two…ta-da! A fresh, delicious
meal.” She put the cube back in the cupboard. “I’m not going to do it for real
but you get the idea.”
    “Seriously? They eat real food? But I
thought they were robots.”
    “The Paring Puppets have real flesh over
their robotic bodies,” Di said. “But I think they mostly live on some kind of protein paste. The food is for the
warriors. I guess sometimes they, uh, work up an appetite, if you know what I
mean.” She winked.
    “Very funny,” Tess said dryly. “So there’s
plenty of food but where do I sleep? And more importantly, how do I keep from
being noticed?”
    “Just keep out of sight. It should be easy
enough—aside from the kitchen there are tons of bedrooms upstairs with big,
comfortable beds. And in a pinch, you could hide in the maintenance and recharging
room.” Di gestured to a small, dark hallway at the other end of the kitchen.
“Come see.” She led the way and Tess put her head through the doorway.
    “What is this?” she muttered when a long, shadowy room met her eyes. Then she saw a
pair of eyes gleaming at her from the darkness. “Ahh!” She jerked back, her
heart pounding. “There’s something in there!”
    “Probably just a malfunctioning puppet
waiting for repairs.” Di looked in and nodded. “Yup—that’s it. Oh, and
look—it’s one of the plus sized ones, like I told you. Come look.”
    Reluctantly, Tess allowed herself to be
led into the dark, narrow room. There were giant silver claws placed at
intervals along both walls. Most of them were empty but one was clamped down
over the top of a girl’s head.
    No,
not a girl—a Pairing Puppet, Tess reminded
herself.
    The girl was simply standing there,
staring straight ahead, with the three pronged claw attached to the top of her
head. She was, as Di had said, quite full figured with large breasts and hips
and big thighs too, which could be seen through the simple white dress she
wore.
    “Wow,” Tess murmured, staring at the
puppet. “You weren’t kidding.”
    “Of course not—the Kindred like women with
some meat on their bones.” Di grinned. “So see—if push came to shove and you were
accidentally seen, you’d blend right in.”
    “Thanks a lot,” Tess muttered. “I still
can’t believe you brought me to a robot brothel to lie low.”
    “It’s a great hiding place,” Di protested.
“And don’t think I didn’t check it out thoroughly before I brought you up here.
I stayed here one night myself, just to make sure everything was okay.”
    “And?” Tess raised an eyebrow.
    “And it’s perfect, like I said. The perfect camouflage. Plenty to eat, a nice
place to sleep—they changed the sheets after every, ah, encounter by the way,
so you don’t have to worry about it not being clean. All you have to do is go
hide in the kitchen if a warrior comes in looking for comfort. And if they come
in the kitchen—which, by the way, doesn’t happen very often that I could
see—just duck into the recharging room.